Canadian officials confirm case of mad cow disease

A cow from an Alberta farm has tested positive for mad cow disease, officials said today.

Dr Brian Evans, Canada’s chief veterinary officer, said the disease was found in an animal approximately six years old.

Evans said it did not enter the human-food or animal-feed systems.

The announcement comes after the CFIA’s spokesman, Mark Van Dusen, said yesterday that officials were testing a “suspicious sample.”

A positive test could be a blow to Canadian ranchers who were hard hit after the United States banned Canadian cattle imports in May 2003 following the country’s first case of mad cow disease.

The US border reopened to Canadian cattle under 30-months of age in July.

That the animal was six years old and born after a 1997 feed ban is significant and could impact whether countries again ban imports of Canadian cattle.

US officials said the latest case will not prompt a similar ban on imports of Canadian beef.